


Favorite Things

by celtic7irish



Category: Venom (Movie 2018)
Genre: Curtain Fic, Fluff, Gen, Gender-Neutral Venom Symbiote (Marvel), Human Traditions, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-02
Updated: 2020-01-02
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:41:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,515
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22079377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/celtic7irish/pseuds/celtic7irish
Summary: Eddie is looking for a gift for Anne.  Venom just wishes he'd hurry it up.
Relationships: Eddie Brock & Venom Symbiote, Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote
Comments: 12
Kudos: 79
Collections: Venom Holiday Exchange 2019





	Favorite Things

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rivulet027](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivulet027/gifts).



> Based off of this request prompt:
> 
> I really enjoyed that these two took awhile to learn how to communicate, so anything along that line would be nice. Curtain fic/art for these two would be lovely, something sweet and domestic would make me smile. Maybe Eddie teaching Venom more about Earth.
> 
> Since I was writing this around the holidays, the first thought that came to my mind was the tradition of buying presents for friends and family, and how Venom wouldn't understand the whole point of choosing and buying gifts for people important to its human.

Eddie picked up the small glass figurine for the third time, turning it this way and that before setting it back down and doing the same with the next one, this time a four-legged creature that resembled a horse. He’d been through every figure on the shelves at least twice now, and he still hadn’t made a decision. Venom was growing impatient.

**“Just choose one!”** Venom ordered, exasperated. It paused to consider that. Exasperation wasn’t a normal klyntar emotion. They were beings of hunger and violence. Things like annoyance and sympathy were  _ human _ emotions. The symbiosis was affecting its very way of being.

“I can’t just  _ choose one _ ,” Eddie protested, his voice low to avoid raising suspicion. Well, any more suspicion, at least, since the lady who ran the register kept finding excuses to walk past the aisle they were in, as if they were going to  _ steal _ something. If Venom was going to steal, it was going to be something far more precious than a stupid piece of glass.

**“Why not?”** Venom asked.  **“They are all the same.”**

“Look, it’s not...this is  _ different _ ,” Eddie repeated. “It has to be something special, something perfect. I can’t grab just anything. This isn’t like just picking out the biggest pizza or the cheapest clothes,” he added, exasperated.

**_“What is wrong with that?”_ ** Venom demanded, affronted.  **“There is nothing wrong with being efficient.”**

Eddie sighed, and Venom could practically  _ feel _ the thought process as Eddie considered and discarded several explanations. Venom waited expectantly as Eddie stared down at the glass water-creature in his hand - dolphin? Maybe a whale, they all looked the same when they were so small - turning it over repeatedly as he thought.

“Look, I know you guys don’t really have things like friends or mates or whatever. But we do here, on Earth. And when somebody is special to you, one way you can show them that is by picking out a gift that you think they’ll like.”

Realization dawned.  **“You are seeking a…’gift’ for Anne,”** Venom surmised.

“Not just Anne,” Eddie muttered, but Venom grinned, triumphant, its head hovering over Eddie’s shoulder.

**“We like Anne,”** it said. It stopped to consider for a moment.  **“And Dan.”** Dan, who had helped Venom learn how to keep Eddie safe, how to keep him from being sick. Dan was useful, and he liked Eddie and Venom, which was unexpectedly pleasant. Venom still got weird feelings when it thought about Anne and Dan.  **“Are they friends or mates?”** it asked curiously.

Eddie made a strangled noise that worried Venom for a moment, and it stretched out further so it could look Eddie in the eye. The human’s cheeks were flushed a dull red, but he had stopped making that strange sound.  **“Well?”** Venom prompted.

Eddie gave a large sigh, the one that Venom was coming to recognize meant that he was about to get an answer, against Eddie’s better judgment. “Anne and Dan are dating,” Eddie said, putting the glass figurine down and turning around, apparently having decided that none of them were what he wanted. “It means that they are committed to each other, but they haven’t made the move to mates yet,” he added with a thoughtful hum.

Venom considered that.  **“And you are not...committed?”** it asked, curious now. The idea of belonging to just one other wasn’t a novel concept; many of the planets the klyntar had invaded had been inhabited by species that paired up for the purposes of procreation or raising their young. But humans took it to a whole new level. There were  _ steps _ . Attraction and dating and engagements and marriage. And not all humans were as committed as others, and not all marriages worked out. But the humans could just try again. It was...inefficient and messy.

“I am committed,” Eddie said, sounding more sure of himself as they left the store, Eddie’s hands slipped into a pair of gloves and a scarf covering his throat and mouth. His eyes were crinkled at the corners, though, and Venom could feel Eddie’s amused affection through their shared bond. “I’m committed to you, remember?”

**“We are Venom,”** Venom said with all the gravity the statement commanded.  **“We are in every part of you. You belong to us.”** The words thrilled on his tongue to say them, to give voice to what he knew in every cell of his being. Eddie was the perfect host for Venom. And Venom helped Eddie to do the things he wanted to do. Eddie pissed off a lot of very bad people, and Venom got to eat them. It was a win-win situation, and Venom felt smug. 

Eddie grinned. “Proud of that, are you?” he asked, teasing.

Venom answered him anyhow.  **“Finding a compatible host is hard. Humans have complex systems. Everything does something different, and none of it makes sense,”** it complained. Eddie laughed softly, his hand reaching up to stroke lightly across the smooth top of Venom’s head.

“I’m sorry that my complex human system is a pain to navigate,” Eddie said, his small smile letting Venom know that he wasn’t really offended. “But to be fair, most humans don’t expect to be possessed by alien slime, either,” he pointed out.

Venom narrowed its eyes menacingly.  **“We are not….** **_slime_ ** **,”** it huffed sulkily.  **“We are klyntar.”**

“Right,” Eddie nodded. “Sentient slime.”

Venom pushed more of itself out of Eddie, using long tendrils to shove the human into the closest alleyway. Eddie’s back hit the wall, but the human wasn’t scared. He knew that Venom would never hurt him. But the symbiote did enjoy pretending sometimes that it was the one in control.  **“You are a loser,”** it said.  **“We make you strong.”** Venom wasn’t being cruel. Venom was kind of a loser among the klyntar, too. Not strong enough to lead, too weak to be useful. And not merciless enough to survive among its own kind for long. Being on Earth had made Venom soft, but at least here, they were strong, powerful.

Satisfied that it had made its point, Venom allowed itself to sink into Eddie’s body, just a few tendrils wrapping gently around limbs and twisting about his waist. It was a comforting ritual, for both of them, a physical, visceral reminder of Venom’s presence, even though Eddie could feel Venom inside of him, and hear it in his mind.  **“What type of ‘present’ does Anne like?”** Venom asked, remembering that they were outside in the cold with a  _ purpose _ . Venom liked having a purpose, even if it was something as silly as this.

“That’s the problem,” Eddie grimaced, frustrated. “I don’t know! I mean, when we were together, it was easier, but she’s not my girlfriend. But she’s not just a friend, either.” Venom knew these were important distinctions to humans, but it still felt that Eddie was missing the point. 

A sudden, horrible thought occurred to Venom.  **“Does Anne not like those things anymore?”** it asked, suddenly worried. Maybe when humans separated, they changed what they liked, too. 

Eddie opened his mouth, then paused. Venom could practically feel Eddie’s thoughts tangling with each other before changing direction. “No,” he said slowly. “No, she still likes the same things. People don’t usually change what they like at random,” he said, looking surprised.

**“Then pick something Anne likes,”** Venom said.  **“You are thinking too much,”** it complained.

Eddie chuckled; this was an old, familiar argument between them. Venom was of the very firm opinion that Eddie overthought everything, and Eddie liked to tell Venom that it didn’t think  _ enough _ . Neither one had won the argument, but they were both still alive and still together, so Venom supposed that maybe they were both right.

“Yeah, all right,” Eddie agreed, stopping in front of yet another shop in an endless row of them. Outlets, he’d called them; a bunch of stores all in a row and only accessible from outside, like an inside-out mall. “I bet we’ll find something here.”

Venom looked up at the store’s name and smiled, then sunk back inside of Eddie, content to let the human finish his shopping for Anne.

Maybe it should pay more attention to the things Eddie liked, too. After all, Venom supposed, a small gift now and then might not go amiss. And Eddie said that there was a gift for everything. Maybe there was one that said, ‘Sorry if my eating people makes you uncomfortable’.

It would have to ask Anne, later. She was probably better at it than Eddie.

“What are you plotting, love?” Eddie murmured, browsing the aisle, though his thoughts were more focused now, as if he had something particular in mind.

**"Nothing to concern you,"** Venom replied archky.

Eddie grinned, and Venom basked in the warm affection and amusement. "All right. If you say so."

Ten minutes later, as they left the store, Eddie's purchase in his hands, the man paused briefly to eye something in the window of the next shop over. Venom smiled to itself.

Getting a present for Eddie was going to be  _ so much fun _ .


End file.
